JEDDAH, 10 April 2008 — As many as 2.054 million Saudis have subscribed to Alinma Bank shares, investing more than SR3.9 billion within two days after the bank launched its initial public offering (IPO) on Monday.
Samba Capital, the manager of the IPO, said banks had distributed 526,700 subscription forms to potential investors. Ninty-one percent of subscribers used telebanking services, the Internet and ATMs to purchase shares, it added.
Meanwhile, as the listed companies started announcing the first quarter results, the Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) gained 78.14 points to 9,501.72. Over SR6.55 billion worth of shares changed hands yesterday.
BMG Index in Positive Territory
The BMG Saudi Index ended the last trading session this week on a positive note, maintaining its upward momentum for the third successive trading session yesterday. The index closed at 538.64 points, up by 0.7 percent. The market turnover reversed its performance, witnessing a sharp decline of 25.6 percent to reach at SR2.3 billion ($614 million), compared to SR3.1 billion ($825 million), traded in Tuesday’s session.
Four sectors followed the index’s uptrend. The industrial sector was in the lead, climbing by 0.8 percent, whereas the banking sector was in the second place, advancing by 0.6 percent. The services and telecommunications sectors improved, both by 0.4 percent, whereas the electricity sector registered no change in its closing level. The remaining two sectors, the agricultural and the insurance sectors, ended yesterday’s session declining by 0.1 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.
Eleven shares ended the session with an increase, while another 11 shares recorded losses, with 8 shares remaining unchanged. The best performance was attained by Bank Albilad’s share, moving up by 4.7 percent to SR33.50 per share, whereas the worst performing share was Arriyadh Development Co., depreciating by 4.6 percent to SR21.00 per share.